Once Upon a DreamTime
by Amai Kitsune
Summary: Hiei has killed many people in his lifetime. Only one haunts his dreams. But when it turns out that she is actually in control of his dream world, what's a poor fire demon to do? Crossover, AU, sonfics, etc. "Experimental"
1. Prologue

Once Upon a Dream-Time  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, and I don't know how original this storyline is so I'm not even going to say I own it just in case I don't. I do own my original character. That's all.  
  
Amai: This fic is really, really strange. It's going to have a few crossover-like parts, some AU parts, and hopefully some songfic parts, seeing as this was inspired in part by Evanescence's "Haunted"- but keep in mind, only in part. Let us just say that this fic is... experimental. Yeah, that's a perfect word for it. Experimental.  
  
PROLOGUE  
  
She walked up the front steps to the house that was so familiar to her. It should be; it was her house, after all. She unlocked the door and opened it, walking into the darkened living room. That was as far as she got. The carpet in that living room used to be a pale blue. After that night it was brown with dried blood.  
  
Hiei jolted awake, a cold sweat dotting his brow. He had spent many years as a thief and killed hundreds of people. The last human he'd killed was a young woman who had accidentally come into possession of a demon artifact through the small flea market she owned. Hiei had stolen the artifact and was just leaving when she walked in the front door. Hiei pulled out his katana and skewered her before he could even think. He had no choice. It was his job.  
  
So why didn't any of the other murders get played out over and over in his dreams? He had never even gotten a look at the girl's face before it landed on the rug. Even in his dreams all he could see was a faceless mannequin with long, beautiful brown tresses. The only thing he could remember was how that hair flowed behind her as her body fell to the floor.  
  
He didn't even know her name.  
  
"Why is her name important?!" he growled, pounding his fist into his thigh.  
  
He wiped the sweat away and tried to sleep. All he got was the same dream over and over again.  
  
)()()()()()(  
  
Amai: Okay, so it was REALLY short. That's why it's only the prologue, and that's why I'm posting it at the same time as the first chapter. SORRY! My current goal is to make my chapters longer. This is an exception. 


	2. Chapter 1

Once Upon a Dream-Time  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, and I don't know how original this storyline is so I'm not even going to say I own it just in case I don't. I do own my original character. That's all.  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
The next morning, Hiei was called in to meet up with Yusuke, Kurama, and the Kuwabara idiot in Koenma's office about another stupid mission. He didn't care; he showed up late. Everyone was waiting, even the blue-haired ferry girl with her stupid oar. The toddler brat tried to yell at him, but the fire demon wasn't paying any attention, so Koenma gave up. The instructions were given for their mission: a rogue demon was free in Spirit World and making his way towards a portal to the Human World. If they couldn't stop him, he would be there in half an hour.  
  
"Hn. No challenge at all," Hiei grunted. "Why did you even call us all in? There's only one demon, and we've beaten the most powerful warriors that all three worlds have to offer."  
  
"He's got a point," Yusuke agreed. "Why DO you always call us all in?"  
  
"I- um- well..." Koenma paused for a moment to think. "I don't know! You're the Spirit Detective TEAM! You work together! Team!" Everyone else looked at him blankly, and the toddler began to fake cough, nearly spitting out his pacifier. "So what are you saying? That you don't want to be a team anymore? Should I turn the position of Spirit Detective back into a one-man job?" A few glances around the room and the boys all slowly nodded their heads in agreement.  
  
"Actually, I think that might work to everyone's advantage. We do have lives outside of our Spirit Detective work," Kurama pointed out. Koenma's jaw dropped; he hadn't expected any of them to like the idea. There was a very long moment of silence before anyone bothered to speak.  
  
"So I guess I'd better get out there and stop that rogue demon," Yusuke said hesitantly. He turned and slowly exited, seeming in no hurry to leave, almost as if something might change at the last second. Botan picked up her oar and went along to keep record of the battle and to show the demon's spirit back to the land of the dead when he died, which was inevitable. Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara looked at each other rather awkwardly.  
  
"Well, if Yusuke ever needs help, feel free to call." Kurama nodded his farewells and walked out the door, hands in his pockets. Kuwabara offered the same before exiting as well. That left only Hiei and Koenma. The fire demon glared silently at the toddler.  
  
"If Yusuke ever needs help, make sure you leave me alone," Hiei said coldly before following the other two former Spirit Detectives out. Behind him, he could hear Koenma yelling for Jorge the ogre about having to fill out and re-file papers on the Spirit Detective job. Hiei merely "hn"-ed as usual and closed his eyes for a moment. He quite literally knew the way out of there with his eyes closed, and none of the ogres were stupid enough to bump into him. But apparently, someone was. Hiei stepped backwards and opened his eyes to see a girl standing there, a human girl. He vaguely wondered what a human girl was doing in Spirit World before he noticed the long curtain of brown hair cascading down her back. His eyes widened and shot to her face, meeting up with her grey gaze. She smiled and mouthed "I found you", which left the fire demon very puzzled. But the moment he blinked, she was gone.  
  
Hiei glanced around; none of the ogres seemed to notice anything unusual, so he chalked it up to imagination, or that he really needed to stop having nightmares and get more sleep. But the girl he had "seen" bothered him. That hair reminded him way too much of the girl whose death kept replaying in his dreams. But he couldn't have imagined seeing HER. He didn't know what her face looked like, and this girl's face was very detailed. Soft grey eyes set under thick eyelashes the same medium-brown as her hair, cheekbones set just slightly higher than average, lips in a small cupid's bow in front of teeth that were a natural-looking shade of white- not that stupid "sparkling" bleached look that human celebrities often tried for, but white. Very detailed, indeed...  
  
But it was only imagination or hallucination or something. Hiei shook his head and continued on, finding his way out without closing his eyes this time.  
  
)()()()()()(  
  
During the day, Hiei thought no more of his strange encounter with the girl. He instead set his mind to training. He trained on and on, until the crescent moon was high in the sky, and then decided that he should rest in order to train again the next day. He walked for a while until he found a tree that suited his tastes and climbed up to a high branch. Here he settled into his familiar sleeping posture, ready to awaken at a moment's notice. When he finally was satisfied, his crimson eyes closed, allowing him a much deserved rest.  
  
--Dream-Time--  
  
There was something on his face. Immediately his eyes shot open and his hand jerked, trying to grab whatever it was. But his hand met only with the bindings of chains- chains that not even he could manage to break. But what met his vision was entirely different. A pair of soft grey eyes was looking into his own harsh red ones. Damn, it was that girl! And she was touching his face! Her fingers were tracing the lines of his eyebrows, the contours of his nose and jaw, the outlines of his ears, and the edge of the bandage that bound his Jagan eye. She didn't look as if she meant anything by it. She simply looked like she was studying him for some kind of research. Suddenly her lips parted, revealing those natural-white teeth in a smile.  
  
"This is my time," she said softly, that smile never leaving her lips. It rather unnerved the fire demon, because she didn't seem happy so much as she seemed... satisfied. Yes, there was a distinct difference, at least for her. And right now she was merely satisfied.  
  
"There was more time I should have had... you were too rash, I'm afraid, too hasty. You are always too hasty. I had another option to get my time back, but this was my own idea. Now I get my time, and everything will be equal and right." She again ran her finger down the bridge of his nose, her light touch leaving a tingling on his skin. "So give me my time. Fighting it is useless. Who knows, you may begin to think it's your time too." She placed her hand on his cheek- unlike the tips of her fingers, it was rather cold- and began to lean forward. For a brief moment he thought she might kiss him, and cringed. But instead she stopped about six inches from his face, that little satisfied smile still gracing her features. "This is enough time for now. We don't want you to be too overwhelmed now, do we?" She laughed, no, giggled; it was high-pitched and girlish though she looked about 20, at least. "Have a good morning, Hiei. I'll see you again." She stepped backwards, fading away like a person walking into fog, but without the fog.  
  
--End Dream--  
  
It was only thanks to his demon-fast reflexes that Hiei didn't fall out of the tree upon his sudden awakening. It was as if he didn't choose to wake up; he simply did. And what the hell was she blathering on about? All those things about time! Time, time, time! The fire demon closed his eyes again, rubbing the lids with his fingertips, trying to make sense. It wasn't like a normal dream, mostly because he could remember every detail. He could even feel where she had touched his face. The line down the bridge of his nose still tingled.  
  
Something about this whole thing just didn't seem right. First, his dreams of the girl he murdered becoming more frequent than ever before. Then, that strange girl he bumped into while leaving Koenma's office- the one whose hair reminded him so much of the one he killed. Finally, the same girl showing up in his dreams with all that time dribble. The three had to be linked somehow, but the challenge was to figure out how. The only connection he had was Koenma. If anyone knew who that weirdo girl in Spirit World was, it would be Koenma, and if the toddler didn't know personally, he would have connections. Well, Hiei didn't like little girls sneaking around in his dreams, so he was going to ask. And if Koenma didn't want to answer, he would simply need a little convincing.  
  
)()()()()()(  
  
"Where is the toddler brat?!" Hiei shouted, punching one of the incompliant ogres into a wall. "I know he's here! Don't hide him from me!" He had come in and tried to march straight to Koenma's office as usual, but the ogres informed him that he was no longer in the employment of Spirit World offices and would have to get an appointment. When he had ignored them, the problems began.  
  
"Ogres! What is going on here?!" Koenma shouted, his small head poking out of the door of his office. Hiei took advantage of this and shook off the ogres, grabbing the door and throwing it open.  
  
"We need to talk, brat," the fire demon growled. "NOW." Koenma paled a bit, but with a nod to all the worried ogres he let Hiei inside his office. The toddler settled behind his desk and tried to look calm and composed.  
  
"Now, what is it you needed to talk to me about?" he asked, managing to have his voice crack only once.  
  
"There's a girl in your offices. She is in my dreams and trying to torture me or something, and she looks an awful lot like a girl that I... used to know. But that girl is dead, and has been for a long time. So what is a dead human girl doing hanging around your offices?" He pounded his fist on the desk for good measure, leaning forward to stare at the toddler with his burning red eyes. But instead of cringing or quaking in fear, the ruler of Spirit World began to laugh. "What is so damn funny?" Hiei growled, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.  
  
"And to think I told her she wouldn't be able to pull it off!" Koenma chortled. "I'll tell you, Hiei, but you won't like it." The fire demon urged him to go on, so he did. "I can tell that you still haven't forgotten the girl you killed trying to get that artifact. Well, it wasn't her time to die, so of course we told her what would have happened if she hadn't died and offered her a chance to come back to life. But she decided that she would rather haunt your dreams. I told her that the only way to do that was to come into physical contact with you, but when she had done that once, then she would be in your dreams any time she wanted- in fact, she can make you fall asleep if she wants to." That thought seemed to make Koenma rather amused, and he began laughing again.  
  
"So you're telling me that since I bumped into the bitch she controls my dreams?" Hiei asked incredulously. He sat down, but had forgotten that there was no chair behind him and plopped to the floor. For once, he didn't seem to care that his dignity was compromised. He stayed on the floor, a rather dazed look on his face. "Shit."  
  
It was a few moments before the fire demon said anything more. "Why did she decide to haunt my dreams?" he asked listlessly.  
  
"That's up to her to tell you. That was one more part of the agreement. I'm not allowed to tell you anything about her personally." Koenma looked smug to have Hiei under his power, and wasn't even trying to suppress it.  
  
"Can you at least tell me her name?"  
  
"Not her family name. You can just call her Koneko."  
  
)()()()()()(  
  
Amai: Yay! The first full chapter of Once Upon a Dream-Time! I hope everyone likes it so far, because I'm having fun thinking up ideas for it! My chapters are getting longer, but I don't plan on this being the longest. It was a hard fic to start. Plus, I wasn't really planning for the team to split up when I started out writing, it just kinda happened 'cause I was thinking while I was writing and I suddenly went "Hey, they're all really strong, pretty much the best, so why do they need all of 'em to protect the world? One could do it!" So it happened. And I'm really rambling, aren't I?  
  
Oh yeah, one note: Koneko means "kitten". Not that it's important to the story, but I thought you might wanna know. 


	3. Chapter 2

Once Upon a Dream-Time  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, and I don't know how original this storyline is so I'm not even going to say I own it just in case I don't. I do own my original character. That's all.  
  
CHAPTER TWO  
  
Hiei set himself to training again the next day. He knew from experience that if he got focused enough, he could go for days without sleeping. For hours he perfected his form, practiced new techniques, and went through all the basics, anything to keep him focused and awake. But the moment the moon appeared he could feel himself beginning to drowse off. When he stumbled and nearly sliced his toes off with his katana, Hiei decided it was best to give in and just sleep.  
  
He managed to find a suitable tree and climb into it, situating himself on a branch where he wouldn't fall. It was more difficult than usual, but he managed to stay awake. As soon as he was safely on his branch, though, he fell into a deep sleep.  
  
--Dream-Time--  
  
Hiei found himself propped up on a purple couch in a space full of nothingness. He thought it was strange place to find a purple silk sofa, but he soon discovered something else far more disturbing: he was wearing nothing but pink silk boxers. PINK! Dear God!  
  
He whirled around upon hearing feminine laughter behind him. It was that Koneko girl, and SHE was fully clothed in blue jeans and an oversized rainbow tie-dye t-shirt. "So you don't like it?" she asked coyly.  
  
"NO, I do NOT," Hiei seethed. "What is the meaning of this, Koneko?!"  
  
She laughed again. "I'm in charge, that's the meaning. The fierce fire demon wearing pink silk boxers! What a kick!" But with a wave of her hand he was wearing a black t-shirt and black denim jeans. The sofa also disappeared, and the nothingness turned into a cozy little living room with blue upholstery, pale blue carpeting, and plain white walls. Windows on one side looked over a home-style flower garden. The opposite side had a door that led to a little porch with a few steps down to the front walk.  
  
"Having fun recreating the scene of your death?" Hiei asked sarcastically. He had recognized it as her old living room in an instant. It had been in his dreams for years, after all. But this room had no blood stain near the door.  
  
A flick of a wrist and Hiei was wearing a pink and yellow sundress. "Don't be such a bastard. This used to be my favorite room, when I was alive that is. I'm not that morbid." The fire demon didn't seem to be listening, though, since he was focused on the fact that he was wearing a dress. He was livid, his fists clenched so tight that the knuckles were white. Koneko giggled and put him back in the jeans and t-shirt before repeating herself. This time he merely "hn"-ed and plopped down on an armchair.  
  
Koneko stretched out on the sofa on her stomach, those grey eyes focused on him. "So I'm guessing you talked to Koenma since you know my name. He didn't say anything about me, did he?"  
  
"Only that you died before your time, and that haunting my dreams was YOUR idea," Hiei grunted.  
  
"Did he tell you that I am all-powerful in your dream state?" Koneko asked, not bothering to hide the fact that she was gloating. "But maybe you've already noticed that. If not, I can demonstrate again. You looked awfully cute in that sundress."  
  
"Don't bother. I get the point. So why did you decide to haunt my dreams?" Hiei hadn't gotten the answer from Koenma, so he wasn't going to waste any time asking the girl. When she merely grinned wickedly, saying nothing, Hiei continued on. "Why did you bring me to this place? You could torture me if you wanted. So why bother with here?"  
  
"This is just to get to know you. I'm not interested in causing you pain, just driving you crazy. And that's easier to do when you actually know someone." She hopped up from her sofa and walked over to a television that Hiei hadn't noticed before- or maybe it had just appeared. "I love this thing. I have access to your memories this way. It's great!" A huge overstuffed armchair appeared in front of the TV, and Koneko sat down in it. A remote appeared in her hand and she began flipping through. Hiei became curious after a moment and walked over.  
  
There were memories of his early life, when he had been banished from Ice World and separated forever from his family. His many years as a criminal. His first meeting with Urameshi. The Saint Beasts. The Dark Tournament. But she kept coming back to his memory of her death. "Why don't I have a face?" she finally asked, pausing the picture and staring at the mannequin with her hair.  
  
"Because I never got a good look at your face. I couldn't remember it, so of course it isn't recorded in my memory." After about the fourth or fifth time of playing that memory, the fire demon had gone back to the couch and was stretched out with his eyes closed.  
  
His eyes shot open to find Koneko straddling him on her hands and knees, her face directly over his. A piece of her hair fell off her shoulder and tickled his cheek. Hiei twitched; he didn't like the girl so close. "What the hell are you doing?" he growled.  
  
"Ready for our first adventure?" she asked mischievously. He didn't get any time to answer before his surroundings began to swirl and dissolve.  
  
)()()()()()(  
  
When the scenery stopped swirling, Hiei was in different clothes. Black leather seemed to be the main theme. His boots, pants, and vest were all made of the stuff. He had a plain white t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off underneath the leather vest, a red bandana tied around his head that effectively covered his Jagan eye, and several chains hanging on his person. He was in what appeared to be a bar surrounded by man men dressed similarly to him. They were mostly taller and more obviously muscled, although several were just plain fat. A few women were hanging on some of the greasy, disgusting men. These women were dressed in leather like the men, although their outfits were far more revealing. One of the women was Koneko.  
  
She was wearing black leather short shorts and a cropped-off white tank top, revealing an easy six or seven inches of midriff. A black leather vest was worn over the tank top, and black leather boots came up to her knees. Her hair was tied back with a blue bandana. Currently, Koneko was draped on a large, well-built man just three seats down the bar. She saw that he had noticed her and winked before detaching herself from the man and walking over. "So what do you think of the motorcycle gang?" she asked, taking up an empty stool next to the fire demon.  
  
"So that's what this is. Bunch of slobs if you ask me. And why are you wearing those ridiculous clothes? You look like a whore." Hiei noticed that there was a glass in front of him. He sniffed the contents and found it contained beer. He didn't especially care for the stuff most of the time, but for some reason he felt thirsty. He swallowed a couple of mouthfuls and set the glass back on the bar.  
  
"Just trying to blend in. At least I'm not having to act like a whore." To illustrate her point, Koneko jerked her thumb towards another woman sitting on a man's lap. They looked like they were trying to choke each other with their tongues.  
  
"Why don't you make them stop? This is your world." Hiei chugged another mouthful of the beer, and decided he was growing tired of it. A mere flick of his finger and the glass crashed into the wall on the other side of the bar.  
  
"I don't control every tiny aspect of the world. That would be too much for me to handle. I'm only human, after all. The background is mostly constructs of my memory and subconscious thoughts of how things should be. I only control the things that I have time to pay attention to." She called up the barkeep, a bald, swarthy man dressed in a grungy t-shirt and worn jeans. He slid a glass down the bar and Koneko caught it expertly, sipping the contents with a smile.  
  
"You don't look like the type who enjoys alcohol," Hiei observed dryly.  
  
"I don't. This is fake. Tastes like strawberry soda." She sipped the drink again, seeming to lord her powers over the fire demon as she did with her silent, smug nature.  
  
"So let's get this over with, whatever you have planned. I'm already bored." Now he regretted getting rid of that glass of beer. He was thirsty again.  
  
"Don't worry. It won't be long." As if that was the cue (and it probably was), the burly man who Koneko had been draped all over earlier walked up behind Hiei.  
  
"What are you doing with my broad?" the large man asked, prodding Hiei in the shoulder with a thick finger. His voice was slurred with drunkenness, but his movements didn't seem to be affected yet. The fire demon turned to look at his offender with his infinitely cold red glare.  
  
"'Your broad' came to talk to me," he answered. "And frankly, I would rather you take the bitch back. She is a thorn in my side." He thought this would make the man leave. He forgot that Koneko was in charge. Nothing would go his way.  
  
"No one insults my Koneko!" the brute growled, grabbing the smaller fire demon by the shoulder. He pulled Hiei from the barstool with ease, knocking him onto the ground. Now Hiei was angry. He jumped to his feet and instinctively reached for his katana which was, of course, not there. He decided to throw a punch instead. The man was easily twice his size, but with Hiei's demon strength, it didn't matter.  
  
The punch landed solidly on the brawny biker's solar plexus. It should have hurt; no, it should have crippled the man with the force Hiei used. The biker grunted slightly, but there was no other reaction. There was a short moment where no one moved. Then Koneko began to giggle. "Damn you, bitch, what did you do to my powers?" Hiei seethed.  
  
"Removed them. Now you're no stronger than any normal human with your stature and muscle mass." Koneko giggled again and began to twirl around on the barstool, which suddenly had a revolving seat. "This is great fun."  
  
"I thought you didn't want to cause me pain?" The huge biker was now in motion again, and Hiei was busily trying to dodge fists the size of baked hams.  
  
"If you get hit, it won't hurt much. But there is no way you'll be able to beat him. I know that'll be a blow to your pride. You don't like being defeated, do you?" Hiei merely grunted before he was slammed in the face by a massive fist. The girl was right; it didn't hurt much. But it sure as hell was annoying.  
  
The biker was huge, and he was much stronger than the power-crippled demon. But Hiei quickly noticed that he knew very little about fighting tactics. Well, he WAS being controlled by the girl, and she didn't seem like the type to study hand-to-hand combat; it made sense if you thought about it. Hiei knew he had an advantage here, and he was going to use it.  
  
They had turned so that the man's back was to the bar. Hiei jumped forward, sliding on the floor between the man's beefy legs. Once on the other side, he jumped up onto the bar and from there executed a flying kick that landed at the base of the biker's skull. Even though he was a fictional character in a dream, the man fell forward with a soft, pained groan. It seemed that even though Koneko was all-powerful, her characters still had human weaknesses. The man was out cold. "I win, bitch."  
  
"Wha-what? No fair!" Koneko whined, kicking her feet. As she spoke, the bar scene dissolved around them, and they were back in her old living room. She was in her former outfit of jeans and tie-dyed t-shirt; he was in a pink bunny rabbit suit, feet and hood with ears included. "You weren't supposed to win! I took your powers away!"  
  
Hiei tried to push off the hood of the bunny suit, but it was very well stuck. Koneko had done her job thoroughly. "I would suggest you not challenge me to any more fights until you learn to fist fight. Brute strength is not the only important factor in a battle. That man you set on me was a lumbering idiot."  
  
"Fine. I get the point," she pouted, flopping onto the couch. She seemed in a sullen mood now that her clever adventure had failed. "I'll just have to think of something better, then. You can go away now. But first, hop around like a bunny." She grinned, looking at the pink bunny suit she had placed the fire demon in.  
  
"Go to hell, bitch," was Hiei's reply.  
  
"I had that choice, but I'm here instead. If you're not going to be a bunny rabbit, then get out." Koneko snapped her fingers.  
  
--End Dream--  
  
Hiei lurched awake to find that it was morning. "I am going to kill that bitch," was his automatic reaction. Then he remembered that he already had, and that was why he was in this situation. Damn the irony.  
  
)()()()()()(  
  
Amai: Okay, so I don't have any reviews yet. I don't care. I like this story, and I think it's fun!  
  
Kebabooru: I don't blame you. I like it too.  
  
Amai: Oh yeah, I have a new muse. I got him out of a McDonald's Mighty Kids Meal. He's one of those Neopets toys, an Orange Jubjub. His name's Kebabooru (That's "fuzzball" in Japanese). But right now, he's only working on this story, so this is the only story he'll be commenting on.  
  
Kebabooru: She lets me sit on her head while she writes. It's fun.  
  
Amai: Um... okay... that's all, people! Go away now! Don't come back until I have a new chapter up! 


End file.
